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Geopolitics Oct 25, 2026 · 7 min read

30 October dock strike

Friday’s dock strike: plan for a lost day in the Med. Dockworker unions plan a one-day strike on Friday 30 October. Italy’s USB union says about 100 ports in 17 countries will take part. USB estimates that about 40,000 containers could be stuck for the day. In our view, forwarders should treat 30 October as a lost day at Genoa, Gioia Tauro, Piraeus, Tangier and Mersin. The last action, in February, blocked terminals in Genoa and kept ships waiting offshore. Italy also has a general strike that day, which will hit trucks and rail. Our prediction: knock-on delays at the Italian hubs will last into the week of 2 November.

Friday’s anti-war dock strike is five times bigger than February’s. Plan for a lost day and a slow week.

Dockworker unions have called an international “day of action against war and militarisation” for Friday 30 October. On 23 October, Italy’s grassroots union USB (Unione Sindacale di Base) said about 100 ports in 17 countries on four continents are taking part, and that the list is still growing. USB estimates the one-day stoppage could block about 40,000 containers.

Our view: this is not a symbolic protest that forwarders can ignore. The first round of this campaign, in February, shut terminals in Genoa and left ships waiting offshore. This round covers about five times as many ports. It lands on the same day as a national general strike in Italy. Forwarders with cargo moving through the Mediterranean in the last week of October should plan for a lost day at the main hubs, then a few days of catch-up.

What is planned for 30 October

The figures come from USB’s own announcement, as reported by the Livorno port news site Porto Livorno on 23 October.

The Italian ports confirmed so far are Genoa, Livorno, Trieste, Civitavecchia, Ancona, Ravenna and Gioia Tauro. USB says more will be added. Outside Italy, it names Tangier, Marseille, Piraeus and Mersin as major hubs taking part, along with major northern European ports, Mexico and India.

The promoting unions are USB and ORSA Porti in Italy, CGT Ports and Docks in France, ENEDEP in Greece, LAB in the Basque Country, Liman-İş in Turkey and ODT in Morocco. Recent joiners include ILWU Local 10, which covers San Francisco and Oakland; the Veracruz dockers’ and day labourers’ union in Mexico; and the Hamburg port section of the German union ver.di. The European Dockers’ Council will also take part.

USB says the action covers about 1,100 nautical miles of coast from south-west France to Piraeus. It says its partner unions handle about 40% of Mediterranean container traffic. Both figures are the union’s claims and have not been confirmed independently. The 40,000-container estimate was published with USB’s announcement, with no separate source.

The slogan is “I lavoratori portuali non lavorano per la guerra” (“Port workers do not work for war”). The campaign targets what the unions call arms trafficking through civilian ports, with a focus on shipments linked to Israel.

In Genoa, the tone is sharp. José Nivoi, a Genoa port worker and USB organiser, said in a video posted on social media: “Cercheremo di bloccare tutto” (“We will try to block everything”), according to the Genoa broadcaster Primocanale. The call also went out to football supporters’ groups, students and residents of the city’s working-class districts. Primocanale reported that a “total blockade” of traffic and port activity is feared.

USB has also called a national general strike across public and private sectors in Italy on the same day. Its demands cover the cost of living, wages, fuel prices and defence spending.

In Greece, the action is narrower but real. The marine engineers’ union PEMEN has called a 24-hour strike in Attica, Patras and Igoumenitsa, according to Athens News. The civil servants’ confederation ADEDY will hold stoppages from 08:00 to 12:00 in Attica and Achaia, with a rally at 10:00 in Piraeus. Ferries from Piraeus, Rafina and Lavrio may be disrupted if crews join. Athens News noted that a general cancellation of ferry sailings “has not yet been officially confirmed.”

What happened last time

The best guide to Friday is 6 February, the first joint day of action. According to the Greek Communist Party’s international site, 20 ports in six countries took part that day: ten in Italy, plus ports in Greece, Spain, Turkey, France and Morocco. Its list included Genoa, Livorno, Trieste, Piraeus, Mersin, Marseille and Tangier.

The disruption was real, according to the union reports relayed by The Maritime Executive on the day. Genoa’s container and ro-ro terminals were blocked. Road and rail traffic backed up, and ships were reportedly unable to berth. The union reported a 78% stoppage at La Spezia. At Trieste, the union said intermodal operations were widely affected, with knock-on effects in Austria, Germany and Central Europe.

Ships were moved around. Zim Virginia waited off Livorno. Zim New Zealand, due in Genoa, waited at Fos-sur-Mer in France. Zim Australia, due at Venice and Ravenna, went to anchor off Koper in Slovenia. MSC Eagle III, which AIS (ship tracking) data suggested was coming from Israel, also appeared to head for the Koper anchorage.

Before that strike, the message to the market was cautious. Kuehne+Nagel’s customer note of 29 January said: “However, it remains unclear if the maritime sector will be impacted.” The answer, on the day, was that it was impacted, at least in Italy.

Our reading: the unions have now shown they can stop terminals for a day. They have also shown which ships they target, with Zim and MSC vessels named in February. This time they have about 100 ports instead of 20, plus a general strike behind them in Italy.

Why the timing is bad for Med networks

The strike lands as Asia-Europe networks are being rebuilt around the Suez Canal. In July, Container News reported that the AE15 service of Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd’s Gemini network would return to the Suez route from the Cape of Good Hope. Ships had avoided the Red Sea for more than two years. Maersk called Suez “the fastest, most sustainable and most efficient corridor between Asia and Europe.”

In September, the two carriers said four more Gemini services (NE4, SE1, SE2 and IEX) would switch back to the Red Sea route, according to Container News. The first eastbound IEX sailing via Suez, 643E, departs on 31 October, the day after the strike. Its last call before the canal is Tangier, one of the hubs named by the unions.

In practice, this means networks are already adjusting to new rotations, new cut-offs and new transshipment patterns. A one-day hole at Tangier, Gioia Tauro, Piraeus or Mersin makes that harder. Hub ports work like airports. A lost day does not only delay boxes for that port. It breaks connections onto feeder ships (smaller vessels that carry boxes on to regional ports) that may sail only once a week.

What forwarders should do now

This is our advice, based on February and the scale of Friday’s call.

First, list every box that should load, discharge or transship at Italian ports, Piraeus, Tangier, Marseille or Mersin between Thursday 29 October and Monday 2 November. Tell those customers now that there is a risk of delay. It is easier to warn early than to explain late.

Second, watch carrier advisories for changed cut-offs, omitted calls (a ship skipping a port on its schedule) and port swaps. In February, ships due at Genoa and Venice ended up waiting off Fos and Koper. Have a plan for boxes that land at the wrong port.

Third, plan Italian inland moves around the general strike. Even where a terminal works, trucking and rail can stop. Avoid booking collections or rail slots for Friday. Expect a queue at the gates on Monday 2 November.

Fourth, talk to customers about storage and demurrage (charges for boxes left at the terminal past the free days). A strike day may or may not count as free time, depending on the contract and the terminal. Check now, not after the bill arrives.

Fifth, do not assume northern Europe is safe. Hamburg’s ver.di section has joined, and USB says major northern European ports are involved. The scale there is less clear. We expect less disruption in the north than in Italy, but it should be checked.

How big will this be

Not every port on a union list will stop. Union counts include ports where only a small group of workers joins, or where the action is a rally rather than a walkout. In Greece, for example, the confirmed action is a 24-hour strike by marine engineers and a four-hour public-sector stoppage, not a full port shutdown.

Italy is where the risk is highest. That is where USB is strongest, where the general strike falls, and where February’s blockades happened. Genoa and Gioia Tauro, Italy’s main gateway and its main transshipment hub, are the two ports to watch most closely.

Our prediction: by Wednesday 4 November, at least one major carrier will have published an advisory of delayed or skipped calls at Genoa or Gioia Tauro linked to the 30 October strike. We expect Italian terminal and gate backlogs to take two to three working days to clear, so they will run into the week of 2 November. We also expect the unions to call a third day of action before the end of Q1 2027, given how much this campaign has grown since February.

Sources